Dunkeld Cathedral is a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

place of worship which stands on the north bank of the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper began in 1260 and was completed in 1501. It stands on the site of the former Culdee Monastery of Dunkeld, stones from which can be seen as an irregular reddish streak in the eastern gable. It is not formally a 'cathedral', as the Church of Scotland nowadays has neither cathedrals nor bishops, but it is one of a number of similar former cathedrals which has continued to carry the name.

History

Because of the long construction period, the cathedral shows mixed

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

elements are intermingled throughout the structure. Although partly in ruins, the cathedral is in regular use today and is open to the public. Relics of

Saint Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the ...

, including his bones, were said to have been kept at Dunkeld until the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, at which time they were removed to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Some believe there are still undiscovered Columban relics buried within the cathedral grounds. The original monastery at Dunkeld dated from the sixth or early seventh century, founded after an expedition of Saint Columba to the Land of

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

. It was at first a simple collection of

wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australian English **''Acacia'' ***Black wattle, common name for several species of acacia ***Golden wattle, ''A ...

huts. During the ninth century

Causantín mac Fergusa Causantín or Constantín mac Fergusa () (789–820) was king of the Picts, in modern Scotland, from 789 until 820. He was until the Victorian era sometimes counted as Constantine I of Scotland; the title is now generally given to Causantín ...

constructed a more substantial cathedral of reddish sandstone and declared Dunkeld to hold the Primacy (centre) of the faith in Alba. For reasons not completely understood, the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

bell believed to have been used at the monastery is not preserved in the cathedral. Instead, it was used in the Little Dunkeld Church, the parish church of the district of Minor or Lesser Dunkeld. Possibly this was because the later canons regarded Culdeeism as

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

and refused relics or saints of that discipline. In the 17th century, the Bishopric of Dunkeld became an appendage of the Crown and subsequently descended to the

Earls of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...

. Dunkeld Cathedral is today a

Crown property The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive government spec ...

, through

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

, and a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. In 1689 the

Battle of Dunkeld The Battle of Dunkeld () was fought between Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king James VII of Scotland and a regiment of covenanters supporting William of Orange,in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Scotland, on 21 August ...

was fought around the cathedral between the Jacobite Highland clans loyal to

James II and VII James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

– deposed in the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

the previous year – and a government force supporting

William III and II William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

, with the latter winning the day.

Parish

Dunkeld Cathedral is still used as the town's

parish church, with services every Sunday (although the congregation uses the smaller "Little Dunkeld" Church during winter months.) The current minister (since 2001) is the Reverend R. Fraser Penny. The small Chapter House Museum offers a collection of relics from monastic and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times, and local history exhibits.

Burials

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – July 1394), was a Scottish royal prince, the third son of King Robert II of Scotland by his first wife Elizabeth Mure. He was Justiciar of Scotia and held large territories ...

, known as "''the Wolf of Badenoch''", was buried in the cathedral following his death in 1394, where his tomb, surmounted by his armoured

effigy An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

, can still be seen.Norman, A. "The Effigy of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Badenoch (?1343 - ?1405)". ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', volume 92, 1961. pp. 104–113 Other noteworthy burials include: * John Scotus, (1183–1203) * Geoffrey de Liberatione, Bishop of Dunkeld (1236/7–1249) * Richard de Inverkeithing, a chamberlain of King Alexander II of Scotland and Bishop of Dunkeld (1250/2–1272) * William Sinclair, Bishop of Dunkeld (1309–1337) *

Michael de Monymusk Michael de Monymusk († 1376) was a 14th-century bishop of Dunkeld. He held a licentiate in Canon law. He had been dean of the bishopric of Dunblane, dean of the bishopric of Aberdeen, and then dean of the bishopric of Glasgow. While dean o ...

, Bishop of Dunkeld (1370–1376) * The 1st Earl of Atholl (c. 1440–1512) * Robert Cockburn, Bishop of Dunkeld (1524–1526) *

Charles Edward Stuart, Count Roehenstart Charles Edward Augustus Maximilian Stuart, Baron Korff, Count Roehenstart ( May 1784 – 28 October 1854) was the Legitimacy (family law), natural son of Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan, Prince Ferdinand of Rohan (1738–1813), Roman Cath ...

(1784–1854)

Gallery

File:Dunkeld Cathedral Interior 1, Dunkeld, UK - Diliff.jpg, The cathedral's interior looking towards the altar File:Dunkeld Cathedral - the east window - geograph.org.uk - 1138997.jpg, East window Dunkeld Cathedral Exterior, Dunkeld, UK - Diliff.jpg, The ruins of the nave File:The Nave at Dunkeld Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1586200.jpg, Nave interior File:Arches in the nave, Dunkeld Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1353277.jpg, Arches in the nave Image:The Tower Dunkeld Cathedral.jpg, The Tower of Dunkeld Cathedral File:Dunkeld Cathedral Precincts - geograph.org.uk - 971357.jpg, View from the tower

References

External links

Dunkeld Cathedral1894 Floor PlanEngraving of Dunkeld Cathedral in 1693
by

John Slezer John Slezer (before 1650 – 1717) was a German-born military engineer and artist. Life Slezer was born in a German-speaking region of Europe, possibly the upper Rhineland. He may have spent his early years in military service to the Hous ...